Chapter Two: Broken Bones & 12 hour shifts

Jolene was five hours into a twelve hour shift, and the brunette was exhausted - mentally and physically. She was running on too little of sleep and not enough caffeine. The events of last nights keeping her wide awake, along with Mateo coming in her room before the sun was even up, ready to take on the day.

The doctor sat down in one of the many empty chairs in the cafeteria, picking at the Luke warm pasta in front of her. She hated the hospital's food, but she needed some sort of substance besides coffee in her stomach if she wanted to make it through the next seven hours. Jolene put a few noddles into her mouth and immediately grimaced at the taste, she quickly brought the styrofoam cup full of coffee up to her lips, taking a long sip and burning her tongue in the process.

"Fucking hell." She cursed at her stupidity, already feeling a small blister forming. "Good job Jolene." The brunette mumbled to herself while shaking her head. She was entirely over today.

The brunette pushed the tray away from her with disgust. She couldn't handle anymore of the pasta, nor could her stomach. Jolene dumped the remains of her lunch into the garbage and exited the cafeteria. Her sneakers squeaked against the waxed tiled floors as she made her way down the hall towards the nurses station, readying herself for seven more hours of dealing with broken bones, addicts trying to fake pain for a few pills, or a teenager who drank a little too much at a friend's house party. St. Thomas wasn't an action packed hospital, usually, and the brunette doctor was okay with that.

"Here." Tara Knowles held out a chart towards Jolene the second she reached the nurses station. "I figured you want this one." She said with disgust in her voice.

Jolene took the chart from Tara's hand hesitatingly, confusion making it's way onto her face. The two brunette doctors didn't have the best relationship, though most of the time they could be cordial to each other and work side by side together just fine, but lately Tara had an attitude that was getting on Jolene's last nerve. Her dark eyes scanned over the chart in her hands, she rolled her eyes once she realized why Tara was so quick to hand the chart over to her.

Jolene walked off towards room 110, not bothering to give Tara another glance. It wasn't worth it and she didn't have the energy today to get into a war of worlds with her.

Jolene knocked on the door to room 110, hearing a faint 'come in' before she entered the brightly lit hospital room. The brunette noticed the blonde woman visibly relax once she walked in, the young boy sitting on the blue padded bench gave her a smile while cradling his right arm close to his body.

"Thank god it's you." Lyla said with a sigh of relief. "I thought Tara was gonna come back in here. She's got a real stick up her ass." The blonde stated, smiling at her doctor friend.

She nodded at Lyla's statement, suppressing the laugh that wanted to escape her throat. Most people found Jolene and Lyla's friendship odd, a doctor and a porn star friends? It sounded like one of those dramatic soap operas. It earned them quite a few judgmental looks, but Jolene didn't care. She knew the blonde had one of the biggest hearts in the world and that's all she cared about not what or who she did for a living.

"What happened?" She asked, her dark eyes looking at Piper's injured arm.

"I fell off the monkey bars." His face turning red with embarrassment, a hiss of pain escaping his mouth once Jolene tried to move his arm. "I-i think it's broken." He stuttered, tears forming in his eyes.

Jolene gave the young boy a small smile before turning towards Lyla. "I'm gonna send him for some X-rays." The doctor knew his arm was broken, she just wasn't sure how bad the break was yet. "I'll send Camilla in to take him there."

"Thank you." Lyla smiled.

Jolene nodded and gave her a smile back. She watched the blonde get up from the chair and wrap a reassuring arm around her son's shoulders, and promising him ice cream once this was all over. The doctor laughed to herself as she walked out of the room.

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Jolene sighed at the sight of him leaning against his motorcycle with a cigarette hanging from his mouth as she pulled into her driveway. She turned the Jeep off feeling his eyes on her every movement. The brunette took a peek in the rear view mirror, a smile found it's way on her face as she looked at her three year old who fell asleep on the short car ride from Gemma's house to theirs.

She grabbed her purse and exited the Jeep, ignoring him as she made her way towards the backseat. "Why are you here?" She finally asked. His silence was becoming irritating, but not surprising.

"I came to see the kid." He rasped.

"The kid?" Jolene scoffed. She picked up Mateo's small body from his car seat, wrapping her arms around his sleeping form. "He has a name." She said with frustration clear in her voice.

"I know." He said simply.

Jolene shook her head at the man and walked towards the front door. "It's nine o'clock." She said, turning around to face him. "Come back tomorrow during the day." She said with a sigh. The two might not have ended on good terms and that was putting it nicely but she wouldn't keep him from Mateo or Mateo from him.

Jolene refused to be that type of woman.

He nodded, throwing his cigarette on the pavement and getting back on his bike, not bothering with a goodbye as he drove off into the night. The doctor watched his bike disappear down the dimly lit street, she looked down at the sleeping three year old in her arms with a sad smile on her face, hoping his heart didn't get broken like hers had.

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